mgo.licio.us

"The face of the operation is Briatore (referred to exclusively in the film by his colleagues and angry, chanting detractors as "Flavio"), an anthropomorphic radish who spends most of his time at QPR plotting to fire all of the managers."

At press time, Harbaugh had sent Michigan’s athletic department an envelope containing a heavily annotated seating chart, a list of the 63,000 seat views he had found unsatisfactory, and a glowing 70-page report on section 25, row 12, seat 9, which he claimed is “exactly what the great sport of football is all about.”

Your logic is flawed because Jordan Taylor doesn't make a single mock draft that exists. If Burke is getting a draft grade, he's regarded as a better prospect.

The Point Guards in this draft are Austin Rivers, Marquis Teague, Tony Wroten, Tyshawn Taylor, and Trey Burke. 4 of them are freshman. All of them have weaknesses. Yet Rivers is getting a lottery grade, and Wroten and Teague are getting 1st round grades DESPITE being measurably worse at basketball.

Agreed that these statistics show that Burke should be considered the top PG in the draft, but the truth is that the statistics do not matter. Right now Trey is anywhere from the 5th-7th point guard in the draft, and the issue is, the league is already pretty stacked with young point guard talent, there are very few teams who do not already have two established point guards on their team, and this years free agency really plays a part in the draft process. There are 4 very good guards entering free agency this year with, Deron Williams, Nash, Eric Gordon, and Jameer Nelson. If teams who have lottery picks need a point guard and think they have a pretty good shot at one of these established players, they will address a different need in the draft, and that would mean the guys like Kendall Marshall and Austin Rivers will drop in the draft, which unfortunetely for Trey, would mean that all the other point guards in the draft would also be negatively affected by it.

Who knows how his experience has been outside of the team? Sure, his Michigan education might be free, a perk which most of us can't imagine giving up, but I'm sure it is no picnic. That could also influence his decision. Stay, and you're not just playing basketball for another year, you're also signing up for another year of classes and all that it entails.

Getting through Michigan as a student-athlete is probably pretty brutal at times. Even with the academic assistance they get.

Do I think it's short-sighted to leave? Sure. But let's recall that there may be more to it than the siren call of pro money and fame. Maybe he wants to get out from under the soul-crushing GRIND that college is at times, particularly if school hasn't been your focus in the preceding 5 or more years.

Stay at Michigan: play the game I love, learn plays, get coached, train hard, BUT ALSO have to take classes, show up for lectures, attend study table, write papers, read books, work on projects, meet with tutors, etc.

Leave Michigan to play pro at some level: play the game I love, learn plays, get coached, train hard. Full stop. WITHOUT the full-time job of being a student on top of it.

If you're not into school, and maybe you haven't been into school for a long time now because your athletic talents have directed your focus elsewhere.... the 'get an education' piece of staying might feel like more of a millstone than a fantastic benefit. yeah yeah yeah, I know playing in the NBA or the D League isn't all sunshine and roses and its hard work and there's lots of uncertainly. But he's got a lot of that here, too. Plus school on top. Maybe he doesn't like that mix.

Phineas: Removing prepositions makes it more condescending.

I'm not trying to argue any of your points, because they are all valid. College is what most everyone that wants to be a professional and achieve what they want to achieve in life has to put up with. The lectures, study halls, papers, exams, ect., is just what we have to deal with to get where we want to go. If for any reason he doesn't get guaranteed money or something happens where he doesn't have basketball money coming in, he will wish he put up with the annoyances of going to a place like UM (with great academic resources and tutoring available as a student athlete) to get his degree, IMO. Or stayed long enough so all he had to do is cap it off, not take 100+ credits worth of classes.

I still am having a hard time comprehending Trey Burke in the NBA. Seriously, he's still looks like a baby. He'll be swimming in a league of genetically mutated man children. I cant think of one NBA roster where he is better than the point guards they currently have. Hopefully he likes Turkey.

On a positive note, hopefully this helps with recruiting and we see some positive blowback from putting a couple PG's in the league.

He's a great athlete and was awesome for the school. Go Blue, God Bless. God Speed Trey, may you never find yourself driving the lane against Kendrick Perkins.

I mean, it's not like the Michigan "family" would turn on him the second he's no longer useful to the basketball team. I can't even imagine seeing something like that. Where on earth would Burke get the idea that college basketball is a business of sorts in which everyone uses everyone? That would be a crazy idea. Michigan fans have his back through thick and through thin, right? And they certainly wouldn't attack him in a public forum - that's for sure.

Reading through this thread, I'd be in the proverbial foxhole with some of you guys any day of the week. You're true blue.

Eh. Brian had it right with posting Henri. All the arguing, prospecting, and speculation is silly until we see what happens. I suppose there is a chance that players, coaches, or even the AD may check this blog, but my guess is no. Oh well, such are sporting blogs.

Whatever happens, thanks for the Big Ten (co)Championship and wins over MSU and OSU. Wish we went further in the tournament this year.

Does that mean he'd go 20-35 in any given year? Is it taking stock of teams' projected needs? Is it his ranking among people expected to enter the draft? I'm willing to bet there's way more than 15 people who've been evaluated "20-35."

I'm all for kids bolting for $$, but this is a mistake. Another year of pretty much the same or slightly better play and he's in the lottery. AND, earns enough credits for an associates if he were to transfer later on.

Respectfully disagree. Lawson is a good comparison, TL averaged 4 less points and one more assist than Trey as a freshman. Obviously Trey had to carry more of the load than TL, but I think Trey is a better and more creative scorer.

One thing I have been pounding my head into the wall about in these threads is that the NBA largely cares about your physical package than your college numbers - if it didn't, Draymond Green would be a lottery pick.

Burke is probably 2 inches shorter than Ty, and significantly less explosive.

I see, honestly, Mario Chalmers as a closer comparison. Chalmers shooting, as a freshman, was roughly equivalent to Burke's, he's approximately the same size, and is, to my eye, roughly equivalent an athlete.

If, like Chalmers, Burke can become a reliable three-point shooter, he'll stick in the NBA. Guys have 15 year careers based on nothing other than the ability to shoot.

Guys, help me out here. Didn't Brian's source say that Trey was 100% gone, but later Trey had a CHANGE of heart. Wouldn't that mean that he got second thoughts about leaving. Maybe he packed his bags, then had a change of heart...

The kid played great for a year. He played so well, that he as an opportunity to make his dream come true and go to the NBA. Presumably he's talked to people who are smart enough to give him good advice. That advice might even say that he's likely a second-rounder, and that's good enough for him. Regardless, it doesn't matter. I get the disappointment at him leaving, but not the holier-than-thou attitude. He's worked hard and earned the opportunity. Good luck to him.

Also, I think some posters on this board need to figure out what they want. Do you want a team where all the best players stay three or four years? Or do you want a team that contends for and wins championships? They are mutually exclusive, even if you're Butler.

The problem is not that he is leaving early. The problem is that he's making a bad decision. I don't think anyone would be pissed if he was the next Lebron, but it's almost certain he won't be going in the first round. It's a mistake.

There years of money will more than offset 1 year. If a team has told him they will take him he is making a great decision. Many of you need to return to math class. It is s gamble to get injured or have a bad year as well.

So with the subject of injury, have players become too sensitive and afraid of being injured? I personally think so. The same thing can be said about driving home. You could get in a car accident and your career could be over. BJ Askew. My real concern for Trey is that he is still developing and seemingly you only have 2 years to prove yourself in the nba. So, wouldn't you want yourself to be at your peek?
I think the real reason for the backsplash from fans is feeling like we're almost there, but then our best player leaves early for the nba each year. I believe everyone wouldn't be so hard on Trey if it wasn't for Morris and Harris leaving before him. It just seems as if the frustration has grown over the years.

Can you name any championship teams over the last 15 years that didn't receive prominent contributions from players who entered the draft before their junior year? I guess there's Florida in 2007, but that seems like an outlying case of a team that featured several players that could have gone pro as sophomores but who basically decided that they wanted another championship (plus Speights contributed a bit, and he went pro after his sophomore year).

smith was the PG on that team and had a good year. he then stayed for his senior year and got drafted in the first round. would he have been drafted in the first round after his junior year? maybe, but his senior stats were better across the board which likely solidified his first-round status.

Yeah, good call. That Duke team definitely fits the mold of a championship-caliber team that didn't have any one-and-done level players (though it wouldn't have been absurd for Singler to have gone pro after his freshman or sophomore years). I think the broader point -- that this is a relatively rare thing -- still holds.

As an aside, I think that the case of Singler is instructive vis-a-vis Burke. Singler could have gone pro early, and probably would have been a late first-round pick if he'd have done so. But he decided to stay all four years to develop, and he wound up getting drafted in the 2nd round and is now playing in Spain. The assumption that more college leads monotonically to better draft position and more productive overall career is foolish, but it's continually trotted out by a majority of the people here who feel that they know exactly what's in Burke's best interest.

bold assumption to say he was a first-rounder in 2010 when 2011 was a weaker draft by all accounts. his senior #s were comparable to his junior #s. i really don't think his stock fell any by staying. but look at his jump from frosh to soph.

In March of his sophomore year, they were projecting him as "a mid-to-late first round pick if he declares". By February of his junior year, DraftExpress wrote that "Singler may be kicking himself for not even attempting to test the NBA draft waters last year, as there is a very good chance that he would have been a first round pick. This year, his draft position is less certain." By his senior year, they were noting his lack of overall progress, the regression in his rebounding numbers, and the fact that he might be "destined for a role as a one-dimensional player, one who is not particularly consistent at that particular dimension—shooting."

All you people crying about how we should be thanking Burke, rather than being angry with him, need to get a grip.

Contrary to what D-Mo may have to say about it, we are not fickle for being mad at a guy for skipping town. With Burke, the basketball team would be on the verge of one of its best seasons since the Fab Five. If he leaves, as it seems he has, he has effectively abandoned and rejected this university.

When Bill Frieder accepted the job at Arizona State, Bo didn't come out and say, "Hey now, this guy has done a lot of good for U-M, so we owe him our thanks and gratitude and I wish him the best during his final run as Michigan's coach in the NCAA tourney," he fired his ass and didn't look back. When you make a decision that promotes your own interests over the interests of your teammates and the University, however reasonable that decision may be, the community has every right to be angry with you and act accordingly.

Those who stay will be champions, not only on the field/court but also in the hearts and minds of their fans.

Now of course, trashing Burke's Twitter is just petty and immature and of course I don't condone that. But don't tell me I shouldn't be mad at him if he leaves.

I'm sorry but you guys are making me stick to my stomach. Don't you know what the phrase, "Those who stay will be champions" means? I can tell you what it doesn't mean: it doesn't mean that if you're a kid, and you had a good season, and you might be able to go pro and get drafted in the first round, then well, it's okay to leave.

So a student athlete should base his decisions on our own selfish agenda rather than his own personal reasons. I'll be upset as the next person if he leaves, but he doesn't owe anything to anybody or the university.